The Principles of Biology, Volume 1 (of 2)Spencer, Herbert
Science
The Principles of Biology, Volume 1 (of 2)
Spencer, Herbert
Biology
What is the relation between growth and expenditure of energy? is a
question which next presents itself. Though there is reason to believe such
a relation exists, it is not very readily traced: involved as it is with so
many other relations. Some contrasts, however, may be pointed out that
appear to give evidence of it. Passing over the vegetal kingdom, throughout
which the expenditure of force is too small to allow of such a relation
being visible, let us seek in the animal kingdom, some case where classes
otherwise allied, are contrasted in their locomotive activities. Let us
compare birds on the one hand, with reptiles and mammals on the other. It
is an accepted doctrine that birds are organized on a type closely allied
to the reptilian type, but superior to it; and though in some respects the
organization of birds is inferior to that of mammals, yet in other
respects, as in the greater heterogeneity and integration of the skeleton,
the more complex development of the respiratory system, and the higher
temperature of the blood, it may be held that birds stand above mammals.
Hence were growth dependent only on organization, we might infer that the
limit of growth among birds should not be much short of that among mammals;
and that the bird-type should admit of a larger growth than the
reptile-type. Again, we see no manifest disadvantages under which birds
labour in obtaining food, but from which reptiles and mammals are free. On
the contrary, birds are able to get at food that is fixed beyond the reach
of reptiles and mammals; and can catch food that is too swift of movement
to be ordinarily caught by reptiles and mammals. Nevertheless, the limit of
growth in birds falls far below that reached by reptiles and mammals. With
what other contrast between these classes, is this contrast connected? May
we not suspect that it is connected (partially though not wholly) with the
contrast between their amounts of locomotive exertion? Whereas mammals
(excepting bats, which are small), are during all their movements supported
by solid surfaces or dense liquids; and whereas reptiles (excepting the
ancient pterodactyles, which were not very large), are similarly restricted
in their spheres of movement; the majority of birds move more or less
habitually through a rare medium, in which they cannot support themselves
without relatively great efforts. And this general fact may be joined with
the special fact, that those members of the class _Aves_, as the _Dinornis_
and _Epiornis_, which approached in size to the larger _Mammalia_ and
_Reptilia_, were creatures incapable of flight--creatures which did not
expend this excess of force in locomotion. But as implied above, and as
will presently be shown, another factor of importance comes into play; so
that perhaps the safest evidence that there is an antagonism between the
increase of bulk and the quantity of motion evolved is that supplied by the
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